Female Olympic Athletes to Join EY as Interns

EY announces that it will hire eight athletes from six countries – Australia, Brazil, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and the United States – starting in October, as part of its commitment to leave a positive and lasting legacy from its support of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Through its Women Athletes Business Network (WABN), EY is helping to harness the leadership potential of these athletes by supporting them through a progression from sport to business.

The athletes – all of whom have been competing in Rio – have been carefully chosen through a comprehensive recruitment process in collaboration with Athlete Career Transition (ACT). Each was selected from a highly-competitive pool of candidates for a six-month internship with EY.

The selected athletes include:

· Australia – Bronte Barratt – Swimming

· Australia – Kim Brennan – Rowing

· Brazil – Isabel Swan – Sailing

· Germany – Janne Müller-Wieland – Field Hockey

· Great Britain – Olivia Carnegie-Brown – Rowing

· The Netherlands – Wianka van Dorp – Rowing

· United States – Grace Luczak – Rowing

· United States – Nzingha Prescod – Fencing

Nancy Altobello, EY Global Vice-Chair – Talent, said:

"Olympians, while the best in the world at their chosen discipline, often need support in making a successful transition into business. Their extreme focus, discipline, perseverance and teamwork are all incredibly transferable skills that we want at EY. We have every confidence that the female athletes selected will thrive in our culture of high-performance teaming, using the skills and experiences they have gained from playing elite sport to help us in our purpose of building a better working world. We wish them every success in their new placements at EY."

EY, an Official Supporter and the exclusive professional services provider to Rio 2016, made the announcement from the Olympians Reunion Centre by EY, the only venue in Rio dedicated to giving Olympians from past Games an opportunity to reunite. In partnership with the World Olympians Association, EY has placed a spotlight on the leadership potential of elite female athletes and the need to further advance women in sport. EY research[1] on how sport advances women at every level of business shows that 94% of women in the C-suite played sport. This was highlighted at the recent Women. Fast Forward event in Rio co-hosted with the World Olympians Association, which included EY’s Global Vice Chair of Public Policy and Leader of the Women Athletes Business Network, Beth Brooke-Marciniak, Olympic Champion Donna de Varona, and a guest appearance from International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.

EY has a long history in developing leaders and supporting the advancement of women and recognizes the strong connection between women, sport and leadership. In 2013, EY established the Women Athletes Business Network (WABN) to help unlock the potential of sport in preparing women for leadership roles, boosting career opportunities and increasing their earning power. The WABN now supports elite female athletes all over the world as they transition to careers beyond competitive sport through its extensive global network and programs such as the WABN Mentoring Program, in partnership with the International Women’s Forum, which each year pairs 25 elite female athletes with top women in business.

Running from October 2016 to March 2017, the new WABN Intern Program will be a valuable addition to the already strong offering EY provides to elite female athletes. The Olympians involved will benefit from immersing themselves in a world-class working environment at EY while developing the skills necessary to ensure a smooth and successful journey from the playing field to the office.

The EY recruitment process for the WABN internships was supported by Athlete Career Transition (ACT) Ltd, which was founded in 2010 to support elite sportsmen and women in making their move from sport into some of the leading companies in the world. ACT worked with EY and the WABN to identify, assess and interview the very best elite female athletes competing in Rio before recommending them for final selection.

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